In The Road to Serfdom, Hayek noticed the many students who went to Europe (especially to France and Germany) to study in the 1920s and 30s: “Many a university teacher during the 1930’s has seen English and American students return from the Continent uncertain whether they were communists or Nazis and certain only that they […]
What students learn at university: Hayek’s observation Read More »
Trailer here: “Many of you repeatedly asked us to cover Nietzsche’s thought-provoking ideas. We very lucky to have collaborated on this project with Professor Stephen Hicks — a Canadian-American philosopher, who published several texts on Nietzsche, including the book Nietzsche and the Nazis. The full description with video links here.
A brief description of the Congo River: “From the western rim of this plateau, nearly a thousand feet high, the river descends to sea level in a mere 220 miles. During this tumultuous descent, the river squeezes through narrow canyons, boils up in waves 40 feet high, and tumbles over 32 separate cataracts. So great
The awesome Congo River Read More »
For years I’ve used the Borden case in my Critical Thinking course. The case became part of American folklore, generating anonymous ditties like this: Lizzie Borden took an axAnd gave her mother forty whacks,And when she saw what she had done,She gave her father forty-one. Yet she was found Not Guilty at trial. Why? I
The Lizzie Borden double-murder case Read More »
Postmodern Philosophy A course by Stephen R.C. Hicks, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy Eight lectures. Key philosophers and philosophies since 1900 CE, with focus on the proponents and opponents of Postmodernism. Major thinkers covered: Bertrand Russell, John Dewey, Sigmund Freud, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn, Ayn Rand, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida,
SYLLABUS for my Postmodern Philosophy course [Peterson Academy] Read More »
Reprising this on why some cultures become great explorers and others stay home: the role of metaphysics. “And as for trying to sail down the west African coast, everyone knew that as soon as you passed the Canary Islands you would be in the Mare Tenebroso, the Sea of Darkness: ‘In the medieval imagination [writes
On the dangers of exploration — medieval version Read More »
It was twenty years ago this summer that EP came out. Full title: Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault. The book is an intellectual history of the roots of postmodernism. One-sentence thesis: The failure of epistemology made postmodernism possible; the failure of socialism made postmodernism necessary. I’m pleased that the book has
20th Anniversary of *Explaining Postmodernism* Read More »
A strong observation from Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges’s The Ancient City: “It is a general fact, and almost without exception in the history of Greece and of Italy, that the tyrants sprang from the popular party, and had the aristocracy as enemies. ‘The mission of the tyrant,’ says Aristotle, ‘is to protect the people
How Populists become Tyrants — classic examples Read More »